L.A. ELECTIONS

Polling place worker shot in Watts

At right, a worker cleans blood from the floor at a polling station in a Watts… (Christina House / For the…)

A 35-year-old poll worker was shot at a polling station at a Watts elementary school Tuesday morning in an incident that police described as a "domestic dispute."

The shooting at 92nd Street Elementary School in the 9200 block of Grape Street occurred shortly before 9:40 a.m.

LAPD Capt. Phillip Tingirides said the shooting was believed to have occurred during an argument outside the school's auditorium. The victim then ran into the polling place where he was working.

He was taken to a local hospital. Authorities said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The school was briefly locked down and the polling place was closed for 30 minutes as police investigated.

The polling place was reopened after LAPD officers deemed the site to be secure, said Sunny Cho of the L.A. city clerk's office. A mobile polling place was parked next to the school's auditorium.

Inside the auditorium, a man wearing a white suit, mask and blue gloves cleaned the bloodstains on the floor. Similar stains could be spotted outside, near the auditorium stairs.

A woman was taken into custody and questioned by detectives, but it was unclear what her connection, if any, was to the incident, police said. Tingirides said investigators are looking for a male suspect believed to be the shooter.